Decision details

Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund

The Chair was pleased to announce that the Council had been awarded £1,836,546 for the project to improve the energy efficiency of 400 Council homes.  This funding would be provided through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), which was administered by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).  The SHDF funding would be supported by a 33% contribution from the Council’s Housing Revenue Account, making the total project value £2.75M.

The Chair advised that the funding would see social homes with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D or lower receive upgrades to improve their energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.  This included, where required, fitting wall and loft insulation, double glazing, and solar panels.  The scheme would help us to make these homes warmer and cheaper to run and was also expected to create a great number of jobs in the green energy sector, some of which it was hoped would be local within Stevenage.

The Chair commented that, given the well-publicised increase in energy costs and the other factors which were believed to be fuelling a broader cost of living crisis, this funding was greatly welcomed and the Council would work to ensure that its tenants benefitted as soon as possible, with planned works expected to take place between April 2022 and March 2023.  The work being delivered formed part of the Council’s commitment to making Council housing more energy efficient and would also contribute towards the achievement of its wider ambition to be net carbon zero by 2030.

The Chair recorded her thanks to the Council’s Housing & Investment Team and Portfolio Holder for Housing, Health and Older People for the significant efforts made to submit the bid, which had secured this important and timely funding award.